THIS I BELIEVE OLD TIME RADIO - 2 CD - 579 mp3 - Total Time: 41:05:17

THIS I BELIEVEOLD TIME RADIO - 2 CD - 579 mp3 - Total Time: 41:05:17Murrow's journalistic independence had struck a chord with America--and the World--throughout the 1940s and 1950s. But with CBS Corporate--not so much. The skirmishes between CBS Corporate and its more independent and idealistic journalists cropped up throughout The Golden Age Radio--and indeed the fifty years that followed. But it was that very independence and idealistic spirit that Murrow wanted America to connect with and relate to.Murrow was continually coming up with all manner of new ideas for showcasing both the inherent strength of the American spirit, and that of all free-thinking citizens of the world. This I Believe was one of eight such projects that Murrow was promoting at the time. This I Believe was the only one of the bunch to get the green light.Murrow presented This I Believe as:""the living philosophies of thoughtful men and women, presented in the hope that they may strengthen your beliefs so that your life may be richer, fuller, happier""This was an ambitious undertaking, to be sure. Given Murrow's by then long established journalistic integrity and idealism, the concept was entirely in keeping with Murrow's own, admittedly evolving beliefs. Murrow recognized the distractions that The Cold War, the Atomic Age, and a resurgence in the tactic of fearmongering were becoming to the American people. This was yet another of Murrow's attempts to push back against fearmongering of any kind, while at the same time encouraging America to trust in their own deeper beliefs, convictions, values, and independent personal philosophies.True to his word, Murrow assembled a stunning cross-section of personalities, professionals, businessmen, sports personalities, tradespeople, first-responders, artists, academics, politicians and thinkers to radio receivers across North America in what would become hundreds of five or fifteen minute tape-recorded broadcasts of his essayists' personal beliefs and philosophies. Murrow also produced showcases of the philosophies of the greatest minds throughout the history of mankind.These five and fifteen minute vignettes gave voice to the inner feelings, beliefs and personal philosophies of tens of millions of listeners throughout North America--and eventually throughout the BBC--many of whom shared the beliefs, ideals and philosophies related in these short essays. Thus, individuals great and small could hear--spoken outloud--the inner beliefs and personal philosophies they found they often shared with the rest of humankind.This was a very calculated attempt by Murrow to remind his listeners to remain in touch with their own personal philosophies and beliefs, in spite of the growing impact and reach of corporate and political 'messaging' throughout a period of great anxiety and turmoil. It was a chance to remind his listeners to trust their own deeper beliefs and values and to encourage them to cling to those inner voices and philosophies so as to push back against the orchestrated fearmongering of the era.CBS premiered the series on September 24, 1951, in a late night 11:30 pm EST timeslot for the first twenty-five broadcasts--in a five-minute, Monday through Friday format. Fully six of those first, five-minute, late night broadcasts were preempted for one public service message or another. The twenty-sixth broadcast moved the WCBS, New York series to the 5:55 pm EST timeslot, where it remained for the duration of its first run through the Spring of 1955. On the West Coast, the series aired from September 1951, forward, over CBS' KNX Radio in Los Angeles, in the 10:55 pm timeslot and the five-minute format, Monday through Friday.The series began airing throughout the Midwest in February of 1952 at various times throughout the region. Those broadcasts aired in various combinations of five and fifteen minute formats, as a predominately three weekday or Monday through Friday broadcast, often airing on Saturdays as well.The essayists were strikingly candid in their personal accounts, many of them revealing, for the first time publicly, their most intimate personal philosophies, values and beliefs, and often the events that shaped those beliefs. Each interviewee/essayist was paid one dollar, through a foundation established by co-creator, Ward Wheelock, an advertising executive and close friend of Murrow. Wheelock's foundation also bore the expenses of the production and staff in obtaining the essays and interviews. The essays were, in many instances, in stark contrast to the public personae depicted by the more famous personalities in the series and their publicists.As with most of Murrow's signature interviews, his own journalistic and personal integrity inspired many of his essayists to open up, publicly, in ways they'd never thought they could in such a format. This was perhaps the source of the series' greatest enduring impact. Murrow introduced the first hundred or so essays himself, later sharing that responsibility with his producer/editor, Ed Morgan, and about midway into the series, turning most of the production over to Raymond Gram Swing.Murrow's pick of Raymond Swing was yet another of Murrow's more heroic decisions of the era. Swing had, during the organized labor and Communist fearmongering of the late 1940s and early 1950s, been all but blacklisted by CBS and the infamous publications, 'Counterattack' and 'Red Channels.' Swing had subsequently resigned from The Voice of America as well, due to Senator McCarthy's typically unfounded attacks on Swing's character. But Murrow trusted both his instincts and Swing's character and in spite of CBS' opposition, Raymond Gram Swing assumed the bulk of the This I Believe interviews and workload from about mid-1953, forward.And in fact, throughout the 1950s, Murrow's projects continued to mount at CBS. Murrow had, for some years by then, begun to permit ghostwriters for his various news broadcasts. His Television projects, See It Now and the subsequent Person to Person were also occupying a great deal of his time and resources. Person to Person, for its part, was a logical extension--over Television--of Murrow's highly effective This I Believe interviews.This I Believe Epilogue and LegacyNational Public Radio's Documentary on the This I Believe seriesIn the late 1950s, with Edward R. Murrow and CBS almost continually at loggerheads over journalistic integrity and independence, Murrow's growing disenchantment with corporate influence over broadcast journalism increased even further. True to his own beliefs and personal integrity, in 1961 Murrow accepted President John F. Kennedy's offer of the position as head of the United States Information Agency, the producer of Voice of America. Murrow remained with the USIA until his mounting battle with lung cancer forced him to step down.Edward R. Murrow, in his then capacity as the Head of the United States Information Agency, introduces 1961's 'The Challenge of Ideas.' Watch it here or download it here and Part II, here. Of note, as is often the case with programming of 50 years ago, are the often chillingly similiar dynamics of the 21st Century.Edward R. Murrow left a very personal imprimatur on This I Believe. Though overwhelmingly a showcase of the personal beliefs, values and philosphies of hundreds of others, there's no mistaking Murrow's idealism and personal integrity in creating this remarkable series for an entire world troubled by the juxtapostion between what they were being sold, told or persuaded to believe and their own deepest held beliefs and values--values, beliefs and convictions that sorely needed validation. This remarkable series brought that validation to literally tens of millions of listeners.We often make the observation that much of the programming content throughout The Golden Age of Radio is as timeless and thought provoking in the 21st Century as it was in the mid-20th Century. Nowhere is this observation more accurate than in This I Believe. SHOWS LISTDisc 1This I Believe - N P R DocumentaryThis I Believe - A. J. P. TaylorThis I Believe - Adelaide KerrThis I Believe - Adlai StevensonThis I Believe - Agnes MoreheadThis I Believe - Ahmad Zaki Abu ShadThis I Believe - Alan Pryce-JonesThis I Believe - Albert EinsteinThis I Believe - Albert GuerardThis I Believe - Albert J. NesbittThis I Believe - Albert ScienceThis I Believe - Aldo RayThis I Believe - Aldous HuxleyThis I Believe - Alex M. BurgessThis I Believe - Alexander BlochThis I Believe - Alexander Carr-SaundersThis I Believe - Alexander ForbeThis I Believe - Alexander ForbesThis I Believe - Alfred DrakeThis I Believe - Alfred FrankensteinThis I Believe - Alfred L. WolfThis I Believe - Alfred LandonThis I Believe - Alfred M. LandonThis I Believe - Alfred NilsonThis I Believe - Alfred NoyesThis I Believe - Alfred StanfordThis I Believe - Alice ThompsonThis I Believe - Althea K. HottelThis I Believe - Alvin JohnsonThis I Believe - Amy C. HowardThis I Believe - Amy VanderbiltThis I Believe - Andre KostelanetzThis I Believe - Andrew B. HolmstromThis I Believe - Andrew J. ValucheckThis I Believe - Andy KerrThis I Believe - Aneurin BevanThis I Believe - Anne HeywoodThis I Believe - Anne PhippsThis I Believe - Anne RombeauThis I Believe - Anne Talbot DonaldsonThis I Believe - Annie EristoffThis I Believe - Antonio IglesiasThis I Believe - Archibald DavisonThis I Believe - Arnold ToynbeeThis I Believe - Art LinkletterThis I Believe - Arthur ConnellThis I Believe - Arthur DeakinThis I Believe - Arthur E. MorganThis I Believe - Arthur Garfield HaysThis I Believe - Arthur KoberThis I Believe - Arthur S. AbramsonThis I Believe - Asa V. CallThis I Believe - B. Lee PaceThis I Believe - Barbara StanwyckThis I Believe - Barry S. BinghamThis I Believe - Ben Lucien BurmanThis I Believe - Beniamino BufanoThis I Believe - Benjamin P. ThomasThis I Believe - Bennet F. SchaufflerThis I Believe - Bentz PlagemannThis I Believe - Bernard BaruchThis I Believe